Pre-Socratic Philosophy, Misc

The proof of first thesis of Gorgias is an indirect deductive argument constructed by the multiple use of the _modus tollens_ pattern. Those of its premises which are assumed without proofs are misleadingly similar to some logical or analytical truths. If they actually were such truths, some contradictions would have to appear in the proof. In the times of Gorgias the proof could be regarded as correct; the possibility of showing and clearly describing its defects emerged only after formal logic (...) had been invented. Gorgias could announce his thesis seriously – as a thesis of extreme metaphysical nihilism – without being embarrassed. If the proof is a sophistry, then it is a masterpiece among sophistries, the most outstanding achievement of the sophists in this domain. (shrink)

The article deals with the question of the value of the history of philosophy for philosophical research. In the first part, it proposes a classification of possible functions realized by references to the philosophical tradition in a philosophical treatise. The proposed typology is meant as a practical tool for identifying and comparing the usage of the past in philosophical texts of any historical period. The second part of the paper illustrates how the classification can be employed by applying it to (...) determine the functions of Aristotle’s discussions of the pre-Socratic doctrines in Metaphysics A. (shrink)

The purpose of the paper is to discuss Aristotle’s account of homonymy. The major thesis advocated here is that Aristotle considers both entities and words to be homonymous, depending on the object of his criticism. Thus, when he takes issue with Plato, he tends to view homonymy more ontologically, upon which it is entities that become homonymous. When, on the other hand, he gainsays the exegetes or the sophists, he is inclined to perceive homonymy more semantically, upon which it is (...) words that become homonymous. Subsequently, this article shows that Aristotle values homonymy negatively in dialectical discussions, but positively in rhetorical and poetic arts. Finally, the present paper demonstrates that Aristotle regards systematic homonymy as a very useful theoretical tool that makes it possible to critically examine the basic terminological assumptions of any philosophical inquiry. (shrink)

The article deals with the oldest criticism of Anaximander’s monism, for which we have evidence, found in John Philoponus’ commentary on the first book of Aristotle’s Physics . Philoponus’ argumentation is analytically examined and explained, its premises brought to light and its conclusions evaluated. It is shown how his inquiry, although anticipating modern discussions about the classification of Anaximander’s doctrine in terms of ‘monism’ and ‘pluralism’, differs from the contemporary approach to the problem when it comes to both results and (...) methodology. (shrink)

The philosophy of Diogenes pays special attention to knowledge. Diogenes bases his thought on the well-known thesis of Parmenides which identifies einai and noein, combining it with the nous of Anaxagoras. According to Diogenes, the intellect (noesis) is embodied in the formal features of things and therefore is powerful, like the nous of Anaxagoras. The aim of the following pages is to show, in confrontation with Laks, that noesis does not homogenize the cosmos, but rather it diversifies it.

Women who changed ideas in Antiquity and in Middel Ages.

The gods of the pre-socratics and their concept of Good, in Spanish.

A close reading of Theogony 116-133, showing the logic of opposites and of whole/part relations that governs Hesiod's account of cosmogenesis, refuting the traditional interpretation of the birth of Chaos as the split between heaven and earth, and providing evidence that Hesiod considered and decided against making Tartaros the parent of the cosmos.

Contra uma leitura disseminada segundo a qual os primeiros filósofos teriam se ocupado sobretudo do princípio material das coisas existentes, o trabalho defende que a cosmologia de Anaximandro é eminentemente processual e se caracteriza por ser uma minuciosa descrição acerca do modo como estados presentes decorrem de estados passados segundo um princípio de justiça que é regulado pela “disposição do tempo”. Sua cosmologia constitui a emergência de uma nova concepção de temporalidade que não explica o que é, foi e será (...) em termos de gerações de deuses, mas em termos de processos que se sucedem; e, por conseguinte, constitui a emergência de uma certa noção de causalidade entendida como regra da sucessão. Entretanto, para Anaximandro, χρόνος não é nem o meio neutro onde ocorrem as transformações da natureza, nem designa a totalidade de três instâncias temporais (passado, presente, futuro). Antes, χρόνος é um agente regulador das transformações naturais e se identifica com os arranjos celestes. O ponto de partida da leitura aqui proposta é a contextualização do chamado fragmento DK12B1 em sua fonte doxográfica (SIMPL. in Phys. 24.13–25 = DK12A9). A leitura se guia pela compreensão da história da filosofia como uma história da recepção e não da veracidade das fontes. Para a introdução do problema, se apresenta uma breve visão geral sobre a natureza de nossas fontes e se discute os pressupostos filológico-hermenêuticos que sustentariam a pretensão histórica dos estudos pré-socráticos. A análise de SIMPL. in Phys. 24.13–25 se inicia discutindo a identificação dos referentes de certos termos anafóricos, além do escopo de abrangência do particípio τὰ ὄντα. Contra a ideia de que DK12B1 se refere ou bem a ἄπειρον ou bem a στοιχεῖα, se levanta a hipótese de que o referente em questão é οὐρανοί. Esta hipótese constitui a pedra angular da edificação argumentativa desta dissertação. (shrink)

I develop a positive interpretation of Democritus' theory of agency and responsibility, building on previous studies that have already gone far in demonstrating his innovativeness and importance to the history and philosophy of these concepts. The interpretation will be defended by a synthesis of several familiar ethical fragments and maxims presented in the framework of an ancient problem that, unlike the problem of free will and determinism, Democritus almost certainly did confront: the problem of the causes of human goodness and (...) success. I will argue that Democritus' account of the virtues and success is naturally interpreted as an intellectualist one. His focus on our intellectual powers as the source of our own agency and cause of our success led him to remarkable breakthroughs in moral psychology, including the development of a kind of cognitive-behavioral therapy for stress and anxiety, and the proposal of an autonomous source of moral sanction. (shrink)

The earliest recorded philosophical use of the term "phusis" occurs in the fragments of Heraclitus (most notably at B1 and B123). Phusis, in the non-philosophical writings relevant to Heraclitus’s time (e.g. from Homer to Aeschylus and Pindar), was generally used to characterize the external physical appearance of something. Heraclitus, on the other hand, seems to have used the term in the completely opposite manner: an object’s phusis is hidden (kruptesthai) and greater (kreissōn) than the external appearance (B123 and B54). Despite (...) this difference, Heraclitus’s use has an affinity with the common use in his time: phusis is used to characterize things. In B1, for example, Heraclitus makes it clear that he is interested in explaining the nature of each thing as opposed to some cosmic principle of Nature. By examining various fragments, I make the case that the phusis of a thing, for Heraclitus, can be defined as the set of opposites necessarily inherent in an object upon which all objects of that kind depend for their existence. The interesting result is that Heraclitus’s novel use of phusis happens to be the foundation for one of the ways in which opposites form a unity. This particular thesis states that there are essential properties inherent in objects which are pairs of opposites sufficient to determine the unity of the object in question. If this is right, then we can read some fragments which contain descriptions of worldly objects (e.g. bows, lyres, rivers, barley drinks etc.) in a new light. These descriptions of worldly objects might not be meant to stand as metaphoric symbols for cosmic principles, as is often thought; rather, they can be read as instances of Heraclitus attempting to do a metaphysics of objects. (shrink)

Aspetti filosofico-matematici dei celebri paradossi di Zenone di Elea.

Paul Raimond Daniels’s Nietzsche and The Birth of Tragedy is an engaging, instructive, and clearly written study of Nietzsche’s first book. It is a particularly fine achievement given the difficulties, in terms of both style and content, that Nietzsche’s text presents to the reader. Daniels’s aim is to present BT as an ideal introduction to Nietzsche’s philosophy, and, in light of its problematizing of the relation between art and truth, to argue that BT is crucial for evaluating the aims, successes, (...) and shortcomings of Nietzsche’s later philosophy. Furthermore, Daniels presents an “affirmative” interpretation, arguing that BT champions a life-affirming worldview that finds its highest expression in... (shrink)

A review of Patricia Curd's Legacy of Parmenides, with a stress on her seminal recognition of the implications of his immediate successors' apparent acceptance of plurality within the unity of being.

W tej pracy pytamy: czy „mówić-myśleć-być” jest u Parmenidesa tym samym co „to samo-myśleć-być”? Odniesiemy się krytycznie do interpretacji przyjmowanej przez niektórych autorów. Na marginesie będziemy się starali ująć problemy tożsamości, ekumenizmu, kenozy, utraty wiary przez Jezusa. Ta praca może się przyczynić do krytyki pojęcia tożsamości u Hegla, gdyż pokazujemy w nim rozstrzępienie myślenia i bycia i jedności u Platona oraz w Piśmie Świętym jako płaszczyznę bez myślenia i bez bycia, płaszczyznę, która może uzgodnić np. buddyzm z chrześcijaństwem. Ten artykuł (...) pokazuje też możliwe analizy Parmenidesa odnośnie do homoseksualizmu. Hetero nie jest różnicowaniem w sensie „dla siebie”, nie jest różnicowaniem idącym w kierunku tożsamości (tego samego). Analizujemy również pojęcie próżni u presokratyków oraz schizmy. Zastanawiamy się nad modelem ekumenicznym opartym o biblijne wezwanie, „aby wszyscy byli jedno”. Czyniąc to, bazujemy na tekstach źródłowych. (shrink)

The advent of logical positivism contributed to the sharp definitional demarcation between what we consider mythical (mythos) and what we take to be a true account (logos). This essay attempts to go back to one of the sources of such a supposed distinction. By analyzing the Gorgias, I will show that even Plato did not make such a distinction. In fact, Plato even constructed a theory of justice that made use of myth as its medium. The Platonic Myth in the (...) Gorgias was used as true logos in order to justify Socrates’ use of the myth as the paradigm of a life that is philosophical in contrast to that of his accusers who espoused mere sophistry. By using the concept of historia in relation with the concept of mythos, Plato regarded the futuristic afterlife in the myth as a sufficient condition to live a just life. This sufficient condition exemplified by the Myth in the Gorgias is a measuring rod by which we can compare our present system of justice. (shrink)

O propósito deste artigo é analisar a expressão que assegura a presença de partes da cosmologia de Empédocles no Ocidente latino nos séculos XII-XIII, qual seja, creatio mundi, esta que é a tradução do termo κοσμοποιία. A análise centra-se, por um lado, em três traduções latinas da Física II, 4, 196a 20-24, de Aristóteles, texto no qual aparece o termo κοσμοποιία e, por outro lado, em partes da obra de Tomás de Aquino na qual o autor discute a cosmologia de (...) Empédocles. Para tanto, o texto é composto de três partes. Na primeira apresento o problema suscitado pela tradução de κοσμοποιία como creatio mundi e como factura mundi respectivamente. Na segunda, por seu turno, exponho os termos que viabilizam uma certa visão de conjunto da cosmologia de Empédocles no século XIII. Enfim, na terceira parte, apresento brevemente o sentido da noção de mundo e sua possível configuração para Empédocles. (shrink)

Parmenides of Elea was the most important and influential philosopher before Plato. He rejected as impossible the scientific inquiry practiced by the earlier Presocratic philosophers and held that generation, destruction, and change are unreal and that only one thing exists. In this book, Patricia Curd argues that Parmenides sought to reform rather than to reject scientific inquiry, and she offers a more coherent account of his influence on later philosophers._ _The Legacy of Parmenides_ examines Parmenides' arguments, considering his connection to (...) earlier Greek thought and how his account of what-is could have served as a model for later philosophers. Curd also explores the theories of his successors, including the Pluralists, the Atomists, the later Eleatics, and the later Presocratics. She concludes with a discussion of the importance of Parmenides' work to Plato's _Theory of Forms._ _The Legacy of Parmenides_ challenges traditional views of early Greek philosophy and provides new insights into the work of Parmenides. "_The Legacy of Parmenides_ represents a milestone... of Parmenides' interpretation. It is full of ideas and tells a coherent story about Parmenides and early Greek thought." --_ Alexander Nehamas, Princeton University___ "Professor Curd offers a genuinely original and possibly correct interpretation of the core thesis of the poem of Parmenides in a field so well worked over that saying something both new and true is profoundly difficult, this is a notable achievement." --_ Thomas M. Robinson, University of Toronto___ "This will be a substantial book in the story of early Greek philosophy, and future writers on the tradition from Thales through Plato will not be able to ignore it without missing an important interpretive alternative. It will be of value to students of Presocratic philosophy or the Greek tradition, as well as to students of the scientific revolution, cosmology, the origins of logic, or comparative mysticism." --_ Scott W. Austin, Texas A&M University___ PATRICIA CURD_ is professor at Purdue University where she works primarily in Ancient Philosophy. She is a co-editor of _Readings in Ancient Greek Philosophy_, and is the editor of _A Presocratics Reader._. (shrink)

On the basis of the new edition of the Derveni papyrus, and of the numerous recent discussions, the paper sets out a detailed interpretation of cols. XIII–XVI. Two important recent suggestions are rejected in the course of this interpretation: the paper argues that the word aidoion in col. XIII.4 should be understood as ‘phallus’, and should not be taken as ‘venerable’, and, consequently, that the Orphic poem the Derveni author comments upon did not speak about Phanes. As a result, the (...) more general hermeneutical claim of Brisson, that the Derveni author manipulates the text on three levels, is also criticized – instead of this three-tier exegesis, a more literal two-tier scheme is defended. (shrink)

Recent works by Fabienne Jourdan, Luc Brisson and Francesc Casadesús emphasize the importance of the similarities between the Derveni papyrus and early Stoicism. The paper examines the se parallelisms – focusing on the method of allegorical interpretation, the cosmological roles of air, fire and pneuma and cosmic teleology – and argues that the similarities, although non-negligible, are not such that would require us to re-interpret the Derveni papyrus against the background of Stoicism. Moreover, the relevant features of the papyrus may (...) be explained from the internal dynamics of the Derveni author’s system, and there is thus no need to modify the date of the papyrus to allow Stoic influence. (shrink)

The present essay explores plausible affinities between the Orphic theogony embedded in the Derveni papyrus and its interpretation in the mode of physikē philosophia by the Derveni author. It focuses specifically on the relationship between latent meaning and manifest content in the text as a whole. The Derveni author’s complex techniques of allegorical exegesis and his mental makeup are the subject-matter of the firstpart. The ways in which he is influenced by, and diverges from, Heraclitus in a crucial column of (...) the papyrus are taken as indicative of his specifically Orphic concerns. The sequence of the mythical events narrated in the poem is established in the following part, and those which seem to be original with the poet are distinguished from the traditional material of Hesiod’s Theogony. Special emphasis is put on the psychological significance that a narrative stressing a double or two-phased generation of the world-order, may have had for initiates of the so-called Orphic type. In the third part of the essay, a similar two-phased creation of the world-order is discerned in the Derveni author’s ‘scientific’or‘rational’cosmogony. A table of tentative correspondences between the Derveni author’s cosmogony and the Orphic poet’s theogony is also included. The final remarks explore the place of the Derveni author in ‘the ancient quarrel between philosophy and poetry’, and highlight what seems to have been his most perplexing concern: the simultaneous immanence and transcendence of divinity with respect to the world. (shrink)